South Dakota vs North Dakota (Sioux Falls, Rapid City: store, move, eat)

[Chris19]

Originally Posted by Jammie

I'm surprised at the stats for Sx. Falls. Even the news has stories saying that they've just broken the 150,000 mark. Could they somehow be including metro with that? I know in reality, they don't exactly have a metro area, but Tea and Sx. Falls are pretty close to being that right now.

The over 200,000 population for Sioux Falls metro includes Lincoln and Minnehaha counties. It also includes Tuner and McCook counties, due to a high amount of people from the two counties commuting to Sioux Falls and they were added after the 2000 census. This adds another 15,000-16,000 people to the metro area. I would not be surprised to see in the next census or another that Lyon County, Iowa would be added. I have relatives there and know a big chunk of the people in the county commute to Sioux Falls.

You have people who like to live in a small town 5 to 25 miles out that want to be close to Sioux Falls for work and conveniences but like the features of a small town (quiet, affordable, and friendly). Many of the small towns have great schools and are simply better places to raise kids than in Sioux Falls in my opinion.

The towns around Sioux Falls are getting to be sizable by South Dakota standards. There is Brandon with almost 8,000 people, Tea with 3500 people, Canton with over 3,000, Dell Rapids with over 3,000, Harrisburg near 3,000, Lennox with 2200, Hartford with over 2,000, and a number of other towns in the thousand and under range. With the towns listed, this puts the total between 24,000 and 25,000, which is a rough estimate and has changed since the 2006 totals taken. I am sure that these numbers will only get higher. There are a number of people who live on acreages and the Sioux Falls area still has dense population outside of city limits compared to the open areas of rest of the state, except for the Black Hills and other pockets (Pierre, Sioux City area, Yankton, Aberdeen, and so forth). With the growing towns, four counties, and more population in unincorporated areas, the numbers add up quickly in the Sioux Falls area.

I remember that as a kid that Lincoln County in the late 1980s and early 1990s was more rural in character. When I was a kid, Tea had only a handful of paved streets with most being gravel and that is not the case now. Cities such as Worthing, Lennox, and Canton in the 1980s were struggling more at the time. The towns were not growing but were holding on. Now, these towns are growing steadily, but they are more integrated with Sioux Falls than back in the 1980s. Many of these towns have been more proactive with attracting employers along with strengthening their economic bases and build upon the success of Sioux Falls.

[neversayyy]

Fargo is not Fair to consider for what the weather is like in ND, Fargo lays in a Valley and seems to also have rough times in winter and spring, Temps and Snow Storms are a lot milder in Bismarck, So Far this year I don't remember seeing temps under zero degrees yet, and snow we have gotten is more than last few years but still barely suitable for snowmobiling

[neversayyy]

I see alot more German Russian around Bismarck Area than Norweigan
Strasburg & Linton is just about all German Russian, Half those people still Speak German, a Select Few only speak German and have hard time understanding English, that is a small town Pop. is something like 650-700

Originally Posted by DannyBanany

I think ND is prediominantly Norweigan, SD is more German (it used to be our language!), and NE is mostly Czech. I was born in Nebraska and I'm Czech and French. My mom says I'm a FRECK!

[ashnat]

Keep in mind, tornados around the black hills is a rare occassion. I've lived here 5 years, and there's been 1 in all that time, that hit Hermosa 15 miles south of here. East side of SDakota, another story.

[Chris19]

Originally Posted by neversayyy

I see alot more German Russian around Bismarck Area than Norweigan
Strasburg & Linton is just about all German Russian, Half those people still Speak German, a Select Few only speak German and have hard time understanding English, that is a small town Pop. is something like 650-700

Interesting, about half of my ancestors have German-Russian roots. My Dad's side settled by Freeman and mom's side up by the Eureka, SD and Wishek, ND areas. The area mentioned is not too far from where my mom's side settled. Kind of a small world.

Known areas of German-Russians include areas up by Eureka, Leola, and areas between Aberdeen and Mobridge and areas by Freeman, Marion, and Menno. There is a number of Mennonites in that area. Kuchen is a popular dessert that has German Russian roots.

In my part of South Dakota, near the Sioux Falls area in Lincoln County, the area was settled by Germans by Lennox and Tea with a few Norwegians to the south. Down by Canton, lot of Scandinavians (Swedes and Norwegians) settle there. In the Canton area and areas further south and east in Iowa, there is a Dutch presence. There are Dutch who have settled by Platte.

Sioux Falls has traditionally had a presence of German, Norwegian, and Irish. North of Sioux Falls had a lot of Norwegian settlers.

Often, there a quite a bit of Lutheran churches where there are Germans and Scandinavians, Catholic churches with some German, Czech, and Irish, and Reformed churches where lot of Dutch have settled.

Kind of interesting where groups settled in South Dakota and elsewhere.

[qtmama71]

OMG! Just love kuchen. Can't find recipes, even on the net. I think the last time I had it was at a Christmas gathering with an aunt who was visiting from SD.

[leroyleroux]

There's some here.

Cooks.com - Recipes - Kuchen

Probably trial and error like everything else.

I don't know if he still owns it, but the guy from Eureka used to come to Aberdeen and drop some off for us. Is it possible to have it mailed?

[eric#1]

I thought North Dakota was a Southern Canadian Province -- At least that's what it feels like when you look at the tips they leave in SD. -- Mostly a bunch of Canadian coins. I thought ND was just kinda annexed into the US more recently. Kidding just thought a little biased humor for OP. I have many friends in ND they are swell regardless of them trying to get Canadian coins to work in our car washes. I think the exchange is better now, but for a while it was like - hey man that "quarter" is only worth like 14 cents ay.

[mikemin]

They both sound good

[Kbear62]

Oh, this is like who is better - Crow or Tom Servo. . .


This Ohio ex-pat is German-Polish. If anyone knows where you can get good kuchen (or even kringle - ahhhhhh, kringle) in Sioux Falls, let me know.

Italian sausage, kiebasa and pierogi seem hard to find here. Any tips would be appreciated.

Sioux Falls has a lot going for it with the exception of the lack of a German restaurant. I love German cooking (as well as most European cooking). There is a restaurant on Phillips downtown (don't remember the name) which cooks dishes from several Central-Eastern European nations. They have sauerbraten so I will get there soon (just hate dining alone though). If anyone has ate there, let me know how it is.

Since we have 'branch offices' in Fargo, Grand Forks, Jamestown, Bismarck and Dickinson, I'll be seeing quite a bit of North Dakota soon and I'm looking forward to it.